


Annabeth's New Best Friend

by sayhannahliz



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Adorable, Anxiety, Babies, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), F/M, Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Happy Fun Times, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Gaea & The Second Giant War (Percy Jackson), Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Post-The Heroes of Olympus, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Trials of Apollo Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 14:52:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17061839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayhannahliz/pseuds/sayhannahliz
Summary: A little joy between all the chaos.





	1. Percy Doesn't Stop Smiling

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> This is my first real Percy Jackson fanfic! I hope you all enjoy. The timelines/when the books take place is all a little confusing to me, fair warning.

-Chapter One-

On March 23rd, 2017, Annabeth Chase was introduced to someone whom she would later call one of her all-time favorite people.

Up until this day, Annabeth didn't think many good things could come out of being in a hospital. The majority of her memories from the infirmary at Camp Half-Blood weren't too good either, save for an old memory of the first day she had laid eyes on her now boyfriend, Percy Jackson, and a few other sweet moments they'd shared while the one or the other was recovering. Alas, the more painful recollections made her feel weary as she opened the doors and stepped into May Medical Center that breezy Thursday morning.

Percy, however, showed no signs of any wariness. Annabeth found the sight of him almost comical- his excitement combined with his ADHD had him nearly bouncing out of his sneakers.

“Excited much, Seaweed Brain?” She asked, a tiny smile on her lips. Percy grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front desk. He was almost skipping.

“Is it obvious?” he laughed as they waited for the receptionist to get off of the phone. When the time came to ask where to go, Percy was so giddy with excitement that he almost forgot his mother's own name. Annabeth had ended up needing to ask for him. Percy didn't even seem to notice this. When the receptionist gave them a floor number, Percy nearly bolted to the elevator. He kept holding onto Annabeth’s hand as they stepped into the elevator. He used both their hands to press the button for the fourth floor.

It's not that Annabeth wasn't excited as well. Up until recently, their lives had both been filled with so much chaos and danger that she was glad to see Percy so happy. Annabeth’s guard was still all the way up. She had just returned from Boston the night before and hadn't been able to sleep at all. Perhaps this was coming from her constant worries surrounding her cousin Magnus, and this strange new world she had recently been exposed to. Sometimes, it was all too much for her mind to handle.

The elevator dinged as the fourth floor was reached. Percy was so thrilled that he tried to walk out the doors before they were even open, resulting in him nearly walking straight into them. This caused Annabeth to roll her eyes and laugh, despite the bad feeling in her chest.

When the door did open, Percy and Annabeth were met with a familiar face; Percy’s stepdad, Paul.

“Hey, you two!” Paul said, pulling Percy and Annabeth into a tight hug. “I was just on my way down to the lobby to look for you guys!”

“Hey Paul,” Percy said. “Sorry, we would've called to say we had arrived but-”

“But we didn't think two demigods using a cellphone was exactly the safest idea,” Annabeth interjected quietly.

Paul nodded with a knowing smile on his face. “Thank you, Annabeth,” he said. His smile grew bigger as he grabbed his stepson by the shoulder and began to lead him and Annabeth away from the elevator. “Now come on, there's someone I would like you to meet.”


	2. Hello, Estelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth faces a fear she'd never acknowledged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for continuing on to the next chapter. Hopefully, you're enjoying this! This one is definitely longer than the first chapter and is (in my opinion) WAY CUTE! Enjoy!

Annabeth’s eyes were floating around the lounge while Paul helped Percy get signed in with the receptionist and obtained their passes to the third floor. While she wasn’t immediately aware of it, her subconscious was scanning the area for monsters. Even though Percy and Sally had gone through lots of conversations with Chiron and demigods around this area to assure that this particular hospital was definitely not a giant monster attraction, Annabeth’s anxiety was spiking. It had been doing that a lot since the end of the war with Gaea. Annabeth found herself with her hand on a weapon and her body poised for an attack at the oddest of times. She didn’t even really notice when Percy led her away from the counter and down the hallway. Annabeth took a sigh of relief when she approached the door to the hospital room.

“Hey you two!” said Annabeth’s favorite satyr friend, Grover.

“Grover!” Percy exclaimed, giving his best friend a hug. “What're you doing here?”

“I thought it'd be a good idea to have someone here to guard the door,” Grover explained. “Just while you two visit, and at night.”

Percy nodded. “Thanks, G-man.”

Paul patted Grover on the back. “Plus,” he said, “Your mom and I feel like Grover is also part of the family, and we wanted him to be here too.”

“Aw! Thanks, Mr. Blofis,” Grover said. Annabeth smiled. Percy’s family was the best.

“Call me Paul," said Paul. "Are you ready?” he asked the young couple in front of him. Percy nodded enthusiastically while Paul opened the door.

The room they entered was a lot brighter than Annabeth had expected it to be. The hospital lights bounced off all of the pink balloons that scattered the room. That, along with the pink roses and cards that lined the walls, made the small hospital room feel more welcoming than any Annabeth had ever been in. The last time she had been in the hospital was when she was five and had caught a rather bad case of pneumonia. Not exactly the best hospital experience.

Sally Jackson sat in the far corner of the room. She looked the same to Annabeth as she always had; like a perfect painting of the ideal mother, she had always hoped for as a child. She was so strong and beautiful. Sally looked even more stoic today, almost like she was glowing, as she looked down at the tiny bundle of blankets in her arms.

Annabeth heard Percy’s breath catch in his throat and saw Sally look up at the group from her corner. A warm smile was etched across her face.

“Hey kids,” she whispered to Percy and Annabeth. “I'm so glad you're here! Did you two get a chance to grab lunch at camp first?" Annabeth couldn't help but smile. She had to have been exhausted, but there she was, making sure Percy and Annabeth were okay. Percy took a few slow steps towards his mom, holding Annabeth’s hand and leading her with him.

“I couldn't wait,” Percy explained, “we left Camp a little early.”

He took another step forward. “How are you mom?”

“I am absolutely wonderful,” Sally said, with such an honest tone that it made Annabeth smile. “Are you ready to meet your little sister? She just fell asleep, I'm afraid, but you can certainly hold her.”

Annabeth heard Percy try and find the way to say ‘yes, of course,’ but all she heard was a barely audible jumble of syllables. It was such a precious moment, she wished she had a way to record it. She let go of his hand and took a step back while he leaned closer to his mother. Many people admired the resemblance between Percy and his father, Poseidon, but Annabeth found the similarity between Percy and Sally to be just as amazing. The gentleness and care he used to cradle his little sister once his mother passed her to him was the same gentleness and care that Annabeth had seen Sally use with her when she was at her worst. Sally and Percy shared the same love and compassion, and it was beautiful.

“What do you think?” Paul whispered. Percy took a deep breath before responding, never once looking up from his sister in his arms.

“She’s so tiny...” he took another deep breath “...and so perfect.” His voice was very quiet. Though his head was down, Annabeth knew there were tears forming in his eyes. Paul pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures of the mother and children trio on the hospital bed before him and Annabeth. Sally reached her arm around son’s shoulders and looked down at her newborn daughter in his arms. Tears of happiness were running down her cheeks, and Annabeth couldn’t blame her. Paul kept snapping away.

“Her name is Estelle, Stella for short,” Sally said. “I named her after my mother.”

“Estelle means star, right?” Annabeth asked Paul quietly. He nodded and showed her a few of the pictures he had taken. She made a mental note to ask him for a copy later.

“She’s so beautiful, mom,” Percy murmured. He carefully took one hand out from his cautious grip around his tiny sister and wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeves.

_‘This is it,_ ’ Annabeth thought, _‘I’m gonna cry now.’_

Sally leaned forward and kissed her son on the forehead. “She looks a lot like you did when you were born, actually.” To prove her point, she tenderly pulled the tiny hat off her daughter’s head and let out a laugh. “Look at all that crazy hair she’s got going on.”

Percy laughed as well and leaned down to kiss Estelle’s forehead.

“Although,” Sally said, “it’s a lot like Annabeth’s with the curls. Your hair was just fuzzy.” Percy looked away from the baby for the first time and looked at Annabeth. She’d never seen him so purely happy like this before. It filled her heart with so much joy to see him like this.

“Do you want to hold her, too?” Percy asked. Sally nodded in encouragement.

Annabeth wanted to hesitate, maybe wait until a later date, and let Percy and his parents have all the time they wanted with the newborn. It wasn’t that she was scared of kids or hated children or anything, she loved them and thought they were adorable like almost all people in the world. Annabeth, deep down, had always just feared that she would be a terrible mother someday, not that she was planning on having children to put that fear to the test anytime soon. It was irrational, but Annabeth feared that the baby would start screaming and crying the second Annabeth got near.

Just then, a loud clatter came from outside the hospital room. Annabeth’s monster anxieties had been momentarily forgotten when she watched Percy with Estelle, but now they were back in full force, and her hand instinctively went to her where her dagger had used to be before she lost it. Percy’s free hand when to his pocket.

“It’s okay Percy,” Sally said calmly, “I’m sure someone just dropped something.” Still, Annabeth went to the door and rushed out to make sure. She wasn’t really sure what to expect. She basically fell into Grover, knocking some soda cans out of his arms and onto the floor where they made a similar clashing noise.

“Sorry about that,” he laughed, “I brought some cans to snack on and they all fell out of my bag. Did I wake the baby?”

Annabeth shook her head, “No, I don't think so. Sorry, I didn't mean to rush out here.”

“Hey, it's totally fine, don't worry about it” Grover whispered as he put the remaining cans in his bag. Thankfully, no one in the lobby seemed to have noticed anything odd, and if they had, Grover could have passed it off as a recycling obsession. “Is everything okay? You seemed really tense when you came in here.”

Annabeth paused before shaking her head, not wanting to seem like she was shutting her friend out. She’d been doing that a lot more than she intended to after the war ended, mostly unintentionally. She and Percy had talked as little as they could about their fall and ‘adventure’ through Tartarus, and that then translated to her talking little about her feelings in general to anyone other than Percy.

“I’m okay,” she smiled at Grover. “Just anxious about being in a hospital I guess. I don’t want to draw any unwanted attention over here.”

“That’s what I’m here for, Annie,” Grover said as he gave her a small hug. He’d been acting more and more protective over her and Percy since they’d gotten back, and had started calling her ‘Annie’ again like she was seven and not seventeen. “Have you held her yet?”

“No, I haven’t,” she responded a little nervously.

“Well, aren’t you going to? She’s so precious and tiny and just as perfect as babies always-”

“I just don’t know if I should,” Annabeth interjected.

Grover gave her a puzzled look, “Why?”

“What if I’m not good at it? What if she starts crying or something?”

“Okay," Grover laughed, "first of all, Annie, you're good at everything, so I don't think that'll be your issue. Also, didn’t you ever hold your twin brothers when they were little?” Grover asked.

Annabeth sighed, “I was really little when they were born, and I don’t think my step-mother really trusted me around them when I was old enough to hold them.”

Grover sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, “Annabeth, I know that you’ve been really... worried about things more than usual. And I know that you’ve got family stuff going on, but maybe you should take this as a chance to find something calming. Something absolutely happy, I think you need some joy more than anyone.”

Annabeth knew he was right, and tried to push her anxiety down again. Paul opened the door and peeked his head out.

“Everything okay out here?” He didn’t seem as worried as Annabeth in the slightest. Paul was one of the most carefree people Annabeth had ever met.

“Yes, sorry Mr. Blofis,” Grover said, “I dropped my snacks.”

If Paul was confused at all, he didn’t show it. “I’m glad,” he said with a smile. “Would you like to come back in, Annabeth? Stella’s opening her eyes a bit. I think she’s excited about meeting her big brother.”

Annabeth nodded and gave Paul a small smile. Grover squeezed her shoulder and ushered her back into the hospital room. Percy and Sally hadn’t moved from their spots but were leaning in towards the infant and talking to her in silly voices that Annabeth couldn’t help but laugh at.

Percy looked up when he heard the door close.

“Everything good out there?” he asked. He was smiling so much that it was hard to tell if monsters had even crossed his mind at all.

“Grover dropped something,” Annabeth mumbled. She walked slowly closer to where Percy and the baby were sitting.

“Hey Estelle,” Percy said in a soft voice, “I’ve got someone I really want you to meet.”

Annabeth finally got close enough to see the baby behind the blankets she was swaddled in. Her breath caught in her throat. Estelle was perfect, just like Percy said. Her face was round and she had the tiniest chubby and pink cheeks that Annabeth had ever seen. Her eyes were only open slightly, but they were a shade of blue that reminded Annabeth of Sally. Estelle’s hat had been pulled back onto her tiny head, but a few dark curls were escaping under the hat. Annabeth sat down next to Percy and put her head on his shoulder. Percy shifted and told Annabeth to hold out her arms, and she did so without really thinking.

Estelle was so small. So small and so perfect. Her eyes seemed to open more after being transferred from Percy to Annabeth. Her tiny blue eyes met Annabeth’s gray ones. While Annabeth knew babies didn’t really know how to focus their eyes or pay attention when they were born, she felt as though the small child was peering into her soul.

“Be sure to support her head,” Percy whispered as he put his arm around his girlfriend. Annabeth nodded and smiled wider, even rolling her eyes a bit. He was already such a cute, protective older brother.

“Paul, sweetie,” Sally said kindly, “make sure you’re getting lots of pictures.” Annabeth could hear tears in her voice again. 

“On it,” Paul said with a small laugh.

Percy reached around and grabbed Estelle’s small hand in his own. Annabeth teared up. She longed for more moments like this.  Percy hugged Annabeth tighter.

She leaned down and kissed Estelle’s forehead gently. “Hello, Estelle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I don't know how many chapters I am planning on adding, but be sure to subscribe to this and comment if you're enjoying this!


	3. Picture Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Annabeth try to focus on the good in life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter three! I really hope you enjoy it! I've been on a writing kick lately, so these chapters have been coming out fairly quickly. It'd be really cool if I could stick to that, but we'll see I guess, haha. Anyways, enjoy!

“Oh my gods! Annabeth, these pictures are so freaking adorable I might die,” was the response Annabeth would have expected from her friend Piper, perhaps, if she was being sarcastic and intimidating her half-siblings from the Aphrodite cabin. However, this was the response she got from her boyfriend Percy after they left the hospital that afternoon. Not wanting to wait, they had dashed to the nearest office store and printed a few copies of the photos Paul had sent from Annabeth’s iPhone. She saved her phone for emergencies, but something like this just really couldn't wait. 

Annabeth laughed and rolled her eyes as she rested her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder. They had stayed with Sally, Paul, and the baby for around three hours. It hadn’t seemed like that much time had passed to anyone, but after a while, it became clear that Sally was exhausted and really needed some sleep, though she kept denying it. Percy and Annabeth decided to go back to camp for the night and possibly return the next day. Usually, they would have returned to their apartment in the city, but they were on spring break and were spending time at camp, trying to make sense of the Apollo situation and, for Annabeth, whatever was going on with the Chase side of her family. 

“Just wait until Tyson sees these,” Annabeth commented. 

“Oh man, he’s gonna go crazy when he gets his picture, I’m glad we printed so many extras.” 

“We’re going to have to mail one to Frank and Hazel too,” Annabeth added, “possibly to Reyna. Definitely one to Piper and Jason.” 

“We can leave one for Leo in his cabin,” Percy suggested. “He’s off with Apollo, last I heard, but communication is so off right now, I don’t know for sure.” 

Annabeth put a finger over her boyfriend’s lips. “Shh, no talk of crazy quests or anything about Apollo right now, let’s just talk about how cute your sister is." Percy laughed, grabbing her hand and kissing it. 

“You’re right,” he sighed. “However, we might want to remind Leo that he wasn’t gone THAT long.” 

Annabeth sat up. Their taxi was about ten minutes from camp still. 

“What do you mean?” she asked. 

“Leo will probably assume Estelle is our baby or something silly like that,” he said with a laugh. Annabeth couldn’t help but start laughing along with him. 

“Good point, that'd be a Leo thing to do,” she laughed. She looked down at the pictures once again. They’d probably printed more copies than they needed to, but she didn’t mind. 

“We would make really cute parents though,” Percy said quietly. Annabeth was taken aback. Sure, she agreed. Percy holding Estelle had been one of the cutest things she had ever witnessed, and that was saying something considering she was around Frank and Hazel regularly. But the thought of her being a mom, even after the conversation she had had with Grover in the hospital, still made her tense up. Percy noticed, of course, he always seemed to notice. 

“Everything okay?” he asked. Annabeth just shrugged it off. 

“I’m not disagreeing with you,” she said with a laugh before turning and looking directly into Percy’s sea green eyes. “But not for a long time, you hear me? Let’s just stick to being really cute babysitters for a while.” Percy threw his head back and laughed. 

“Obviously, Wise Girl,” he said as he rolled his eyes. “I can barely even take care of a goldfish.” 

Annabeth rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, “What do you mean?” She eyed the taxi driver, though he didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the two demigods in the back seat. She still lowered her voice before speaking next, “You’re the son of Poseidon, you could literally ask the goldfish what it wanted and it would respond to you.” 

Percy shook his head. “Goldfish are snobs and think they’re better than everyone. I’m not cool enough to talk to them, trust me I’ve tried." They both laughed before falling into a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

A thought crossed Annabeth’s mind as they neared camp. She could barely see Thalia’s tree, but she knew they were getting fairly close. She began to pack the pictures back up. 

“Do you think Estelle will be able to see through the mist?” she asked Percy. He shrugged and didn’t wait too long before responding. Clearly, he’d been thinking about the same thing. 

“I talked to mom about that a couple weeks ago actually. Part of me hopes she will be able to, but a bigger part of me wants to keep her out of the demigod loop for as long as we can, you know? Let her live without worrying about monsters and who my dad really is.” The cab reached the bottom of Half-Blood Hill and the two demigods paid the driver and made sure to grab their belongings before they made their way up to the top of the hill. “But another part of me really wants to show her the fun stuff. Like, I want to take her to talk to fish and I want her to know just how strong and cool her brother’s girlfriend is.” 

Annabeth wanted to roll her eyes, but the idea was too sweet. They reached the top of the hill and walked into camp. It was quiet, but not in a bad or eerie way. It made Annabeth sigh with relief. 

“Do you think we can go again tomorrow?” Percy asked as they made their way to the cabins. Annabeth nodded enthusiastically. “I’m going to run to my cabin real quick, want to train later?” she asked. 

Percy nodded and kissed her cheek as a goodbye. “I’ll see you in a bit,” he called as he ran to Cabin three. 

When Annabeth reached Cabin 6, she was glad to find it mostly empty. Her half-brother, Malcolm, was working away at his desk. She gave him a small wave and left him to finish whatever he was working on. Careful not disturb anyone else who might've been working, she reached into her desk and pulled out some tape, and stuck the photograph of her, Percy, and Estelle on the wall above her desk. It was surrounded by pictures of Annabeth and Percy, a goofy picture that Piper had insisted that the Seven take together on the deck of the Argo II, and other pictures from her years at camp. While Annabeth was really only at camp during the summers now, she was glad that her siblings left her desk alone during the school year. Technically, she was still head of the cabin, so she figured her siblings wouldn’t dare touch her things. 

Annabeth took a step back and looked at the pictures. She heard Malcolm turn in his chair behind her. 

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie, that's pretty dang cute, Annabeth," he said with a small laugh. "What's the baby's name?"  


"Her name's Estelle," Annabeth said with a smile. "And she's absolutely perfect."  


"She must be," said her half-brother, "You hardly ever use the word perfect."   


Annabeth smiled wider. "That's because I try and save it." She waved at Malcolm, who was also smiling, and left to find Percy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! One quick thing, I promise I did my best to figure out where this chapter would fall! It would've had to have taken place somewhere after The Hidden Oracle (where Sally is seven(?) months pregnant), and before Ship of the Dead (where Percy mentions having to go and babysit Estelle). I hope my references to other characters were not confusing! Leave a comment if you liked this! Thanks for all the support!


End file.
